Michigan Mock Trial Tryouts 2008 - 2009

So how do I sign up?

Here are the important dates to remember:

Thursday, Sept. 4th, 2008 – Festifall: Held on the Diag during the day, Festifall is a great sampling of U of M’s student organizations. We will have a booth set up, so please come and find us to sign up for an email list. There will always be at least one team member manning the booth that you can talk to.

Sunday, Sept. 7th OR Monday, Sept. 8th, 2008 – Mass Meetings: At the Mass Meetings, you will learn what Michigan Mock Trial is all about – how often we practice, how often we compete and all the other fun stuff we do. You will be able to meet and talk to the entire team. We will explain how to tryout and pass around a sign up sheet for tryouts. You only need to go to ONE mass meeting (out of the two).

Friday, Sept. 12th OR Sunday, Sept. 14th, 2008 – Tryouts: Please sign up for a ten minute tryout slot at one of the mass meetings. These tryouts are the last chance for you to make the Michigan mock trial team for the 2008-2009 season.

Please email mtcaptains09@umich.edu with any questions or concerns.

What do tryouts entail?

We are looking for people who can creatively analyze a case and can present their interpretation persuasively. The materials you will use are actual excerpts from this year’s case. On the evening of Monday, Sept. 8th (just after the last Mass Meeting), we will release the tryout materials on this web page. These materials will include: background info on the case, applicable law, several witness statements, and a few proposed exhibits. In order to tryout, you will have to:

1. Review the tryout materials
2. Decide whether you want to tryout as an attorney or as a witness (what you tryout as does not decide your future role on the team, do whatever feels more comfortable for you).
   1. ATTORNEYS: Use all of the case materials to create a SHORT closing argument. Imagine that the trial is nearly over and all of the witnesses have testified. Use their testimony, exhibits, and any other arguments you can think of to persuade the jury. Your speech should be about 2 - 3 minutes. After your closing, we will ask you several questions about your argument and analysis of the case.
   2. WITNESSES: Select ONE of the witness statements from the tryout material and prepare a short (around one minute) monologue as that witness. Come up with a charismatic character. Be entertaining, engaging, and believable. Use the facts in the witness statement to create your monologue and be prepared to answer a few questions about the facts in that statement (creativity is a big plus).
3. Be on time. Be prepared. Come ready to make your best first impression. Most importantly, don't worry. The process is very relaxed and it only takes about 10 minutes.

Frequently Asked Questions:

Do I need to have previous mock trial experience?

Absolutely not. Currently our team is about evenly split between people with past mock trial experience and those without it. As long as you impress us in your tryout you have an equal chance of making the team.

How much of a time commitment is mock trial?

Schedules vary through the year, but you will generally be meeting about 3 times per week for a couple of hours per meeting. In the winter you may be asked to meet even more. Also we will have about five weekends during the year where you will be traveling to tournaments.

Is there a financial commitment to the team?

Yes. Because we're a student-run organization, we are responsible for our own finances. We won’t know exactly how much each member will have to pay until we do our budget, but definitely don’t let this stop you from trying out. No one should decide not to try out because they think money will be tight, we'll make it work.

What are you looking for in your tryouts?

• For everyone: we want to see that you are dedicated to presenting a good tryout and that you will fit in well with our team.
• For people trying out as attorneys: we want to see that you can analyze a case and present logical arguments, also we want to see that you have poise and confidence when you present arguments.
• For people trying out as witnesses: we want to see that you have charisma and can entertain us with a fun or dramatic story about who your character is. We also want to see that you can improvise and stay in character while we are asking you questions that you may not be prepared for.

I am a senior, should I even bother trying out?

Absolutely. During tryouts our goal is to take the best tryouts we saw regardless of year in school. Some of our strongest competitors have been seniors in their first year on the team.

Email mtcaptains09@umich.edu if you have any other questions, and we’ll be more than happy to help you out.

Thank you for showing interest in the team, and good luck. We look forward to some awesome tryouts this year!